In Memory of a Daisy
by sudipal
Summary: It was the daisiest daisy he had ever seen...


The Doctor cautiously opened the door to Leela's room, as though expecting her to be there. But, of course, she wouldn't be; she had decided to leave him and to remain on Gallifrey. He would miss the savage girl terribly, but hoped she would find the happiness of living on that planet that he himself never could.

He slowly scanned the room, which was quiet, but far from empty. Like many of his previous companions, Leela had picked up several souvenirs along their travels. The Doctor had also insisted in filling up her wardrobe, though he usually had a difficult time in getting her to actually wear the articles of clothing. Perhaps he should have asked her if she wanted anything from here before they parted ways, but then he realized that Leela wasn't overly materialistic. He definitely wasn't afraid that she would forget any of their adventures; especially any time she looked into a mirror and saw bright blue orbs staring back at her instead of her original brown.

And now it was the Doctor's job to store away these mementos. He sighed, combed a hand through his head of curls, and scavenged the room, throwing everything in boxes. Halfway through his cleaning, he picked up a medium-sized box with the intention of storing it away. He left the room, and passed by his newly assembled K-9, who was busy uploading data into its memory bank. He carried the box to a storage container down deep in the lower-levels of the TARDIS. He opened up a containment unit and dropped the box carefully on the floor. He did a quick sweep of the unit and turned to leave, but accidentally tripped over another box. He quickly stood up and dusted himself off, glancing around as though to make sure no one noticed; but no one did. He then peered down to glare at the offending object. He had caused the contents of the box to spill onto the floor. He stooped down to right them, and as he did so, something caught his eye.

"My diary!" he exclaimed. "I thought I lost this decades ago." He looked up in excitement, but frowned when he realized he was talking to nobody.

He opened up the diary, skimming through the pages. They were mostly blank, though. The irony was that he could never seem to find the time to sit down and write in it. He smiled as he read through his recordings of his earlier adventures: of Aztecs, of Space Museums, and of of Yetis. He laughed to himself as he counted how many times he misspelled Ian Chesterton's name. And as he went on, he noticed when something loose fell from the pages. He bent down to pick it up off the floor, and held it up to eye level. It was a small, pressed daisy. He twirled it in his fingers, watching it intently, and letting the memory consume him.

– – –

The Doctor watched sadly as Jo packed her luggage into the back of the taxicab. She and Cliff Jones were on the way to the airport to start their new life in the Amazons as husband and wife. Jo suddenly looked behind her and saw the expression on the Doctor's face. She glanced at Cliff, and he immediately went to take on handling the rest of the luggage. Jo then walked over to her dear friend and smiled.

The Doctor gave a half-hearted smile in return, and said, "Goodbye, Jo."

"I'll miss you, Doctor," she said.

"I'll miss you, too."

"Oh, come on, Doctor," said Jo. "Cheer up. You'll never win over a new assistant if you act so miserable."

"Perhaps I don't want a new assistant?" said the Doctor.

"I know you don't," she said. "You didn't want me at first. But I replaced Liz Shaw, and someone will replace me."

"No one could replace you, Jo," said the Doctor. "You're a very special girl."

Jo took his hand and squeezed it gently. She then looked around quickly and left him for a moment. The Doctor watched with a great deal of curiosity as Jo wandered off to a nearby flower patch and picked a daisy. She returned with it and thrust it into his hand.

"So you don't forget me," she said.

The Doctor gave her an inquisitive look. "I don't see how...?"

"Describe it to me, Doctor," she said, cutting him off.

He brought his fingers to his lips as he stared at it, thinking. He twirled it in his hand for a moment, and sighed. He couldn't see anything special about it. "It's white," he finally answered.

Jo shook her head. "You're wrong, Doctor," she said. "It's deep and rich in vibrancy. It's glowing with all the hues of the rainbow. Every color in existence is contained in this one little flower, and they're all bursting forth, trying to spread to the rest of the world. Do you see it, Doctor?"

The Doctor again stared at the daisy, and after a moment, gave a slight smile in understanding. He thought of the day years ago when he met with the hermit that lived in the mountains behind his home on Gallifrey. That had been the darkest day of his life, and yet he was able to find the joy he thought he had lost forever in one small daisy: the daisiest daisy he had ever seen. He then looked up at his companion. "Thank you, Jo," he said. "I will cherish this always."

Suddenly, Cliff took a few steps towards them and spoke up, "Jo?" he said. She turned. "I'm sorry but we don't want to miss our flight."

She nodded and turned back towards the Doctor. She leaned in and gave him a slight peck on the cheek. "Goodbye, Doctor. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too, Jo." He watched as both she and Cliff entered the cab, and until they turned a corner and disappeared from view. He sighed, bringing the daisy up to eye level and casually twirling it by its stem between his fingers.

– – –

The Doctor watched enchanted as the daisy spun. Suddenly, he stopped the action and placed it back into the pages of the diary.

What was the matter with him? Getting so sentimental... you'd think he was still going about dressed in velvet coats and ruffled shirts. He firmly readjusted his scarf, wrapping it over his shoulders.

He didn't need a companion mucking about his TARDIS, touching everything after he finally got things just the way he wanted them. And, anyway, they just end up leaving. All he needs is the TARDIS; K-9 will be his company. And now at least he had the time to go on a nice long holiday. He smiled to himself; yes, a holiday is just the thing.

But as he went in search of his robotic friend to tell him the good news, he thought to himself that perhaps having another companion around wouldn't be such a bad thing...


End file.
